Many of you have asked us how you can help. Here are some ways that you can join us.
Prayer: This is the most important way that you can help us! The adoption process is long and at times, challenging. Your prayerful accompaniment would mean so much to us.
Sharing: Share our journey, and this page, with your family and friends.
Fundraising: Adoption can total over $50,000. While we are making great sacrifices to self-fund our adoption, we may need help meeting some of the financial obligations along the way. We are grateful for any gift you feel led to make. (Donations through our Adopt Together site are tax deductible, and can only be used for adoption related expenses with the oversight of "Adopt Together". You will receive a receipt for your records and year end taxes*.)
*Pure Charity and AdoptTogether (a project of Hoping Hearts Foundation Inc.), are both federally recognized 501(c)(3) U.S. charitable organizations. U.S. donations are tax deductible as allowed by IRS specifications.
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It is with great excitement that we share this update with you! Evan and I felt a tugging on our heart prior to my pregnancy with Nathaniel to adopt a child into our family. As we started looking into the process, I became pregnant which led us to wait on this for the moment. After losing Nathaniel, we have seen God’s provision and tender care for us in more ways than we can count. We know that He is our Good Shepherd even when our paths are not straight and our circumstances do not feel good. We know that He will always provide when we walk in obedience to His calling on our lives. We believe now that the Lord put this on our hearts before my pregnancy to further affirm for us that this is the path He had for our family. In the Bible, God calls us multiple times to care for the widows and orphans, and we are excited to step into that calling. We know that our decision will have a generational impact on a child who may not have had that opportunity otherwise.
Evan and I both felt the Lord’s leading to start the adoption process. We decided that we would continue to walk forward as long as we felt the Lord's peace, guidance, and provision. We applied to Lifetime Adoption, a highly known and established Christian adoption agency that works with families around the country. They have been working with families for over 35 years. They have a true passion for showing the love of Christ, not only by finding the child a Christian home but by continuing to provide counseling and support for the birth mother after the adoption. Our values and love for Christ so closely align with Lifetime’s mission, vision, and values. They receive over 400 applicants to become adoptive families per month yet can only accept ten. We could not believe that after our first initial interview, they had accepted us!
We were thrilled but took thirty days to fast and pray over this decision, this potential child, and seek the Lord further. After those thirty days, we felt the Lord telling us to continue. On May 26, we gave a deposit of $11,000 and signed a contract with Lifetime to start the process. An adoption is approximately $50,000 which encompasses support for the birth mother, legal and agency fees, a case study, and other medical expenses. We are trusting that the Lord will provide for us. He is faithful when we walk in obedience with Him. Evan and I shared with the adoption agency that we are open to many situations such as a sibling set, twins, or a single child. As you can imagine, this leaves us with many unknowns, yet we are confident that the Lord knows this child by name and has set this child apart for us.
Thank you for loving our family so well,
Evan & Rachel Vazquez
